Lethea & Les Travel (or 'Life in Camelot'): Family and Patriotism

We arrived in Durango and thought the Wal-Mart would be a great place to boondock, but they had some “No Overnight Parking” signs, so we tried to find an RV park close to town. The closest one was full (and tacky) and another was closed. The other 2 in the area were a long a ways out of town. So, Les called and spoke to the manager of the Wal-Mart and found out that the “no-parking” was a city thing and the manager wasn’t really happy about it, so we ended spending 2 nights in the lot!

The last time that we were in Durango was 1990 when Lance had a mountain bike accident and broke his neck! Had C-3 blown in instead of out, he’d have had a very different outcome! We are still thankful that he can walk!

From Durango we made our way to Salida, again partaking of the hospitality of Wal-Mart for a couple of days. We had a nice dinner in town to celebrate Lester’s birthday (you’ll have to ask him which one). The next day we drove the truck to Gunnison and had lunch and when we returned, the wind had started to blow, gusting to 60 or 70 mph (depending on your source)! When it got really bad, Les was outside fending off the shopping carts that were flying across the parking lot. He saved us from getting hit by at least a dozen carts and a plastic chair and a bench! It blew hard all night and we pulled the slides in because it felt like the coach was going to be blown over!

Can you see the dozen shopping carts against the fence?

We stopped at the Royal Gorge, near Canon City, and spent some time on the highest suspension bridge in the world! Lunch was an Oktoberfest celebration on the other side of the gorge where Les especially enjoyed the Ohm-pah pah band! (Can’t you just picture it??)

The Bridge...

And the gorge...

We got a big chuckle over the sign... the river is over 1,000' down!

The view straight down from the bridge.

(My name is Edith Ann and I am 5 years old...)

We spent about a week in Colorado Springs; the first part of the week was spent doing a bit of housekeeping. We were in a nice park in the south part of Colorado Springs in Old Colorado City. We stumbled on a great Italian restaurant called Parvicini’s (at Colorado Ave & 28th St.). Our best meal on the whole trip!

A really great evening for us was being able to hook up with Vic & Tanda in south Denver while they were on their way to Nebraska. Vic told the waitress some really random story about how he had spotted us on the freeway and pulled us over… such B.S. Victor!!!

Then we got to spend a fun time with the Hoffman’s celebrating Paul’s 50th birthday. Kyle & Korin were here too! Paul’s band played at the party and they were amazing! I wish I had taken some pictures to share, but I was too busy groovin’ to the music… Paul & Margot live in a great area called Black Forest where they have 12 acres to keep their horses, Sunny & Snowy.

Today we got to spend the afternoon with Cadet Shelby Judd, the son of our dear friends Kriste & Perry. Shelby is in his second year at the United States Air Force Academy. He gave us a tour of the campus and his room and also shared with us many of his experiences as a 1st year Cadet. We were so very proud of him and came away with an amazing respect for the young men and women who have chosen to pursue a career in our armed forces. I’ve been told that about 50,000 young people apply for a congressional nomination to the Academy and that about 10,000 people get that nomination to fill 1400 openings each year! According to Shelby, the first year is extremely difficult, but the sense of pride he has in getting through it is palpable. Today was definitely a highlight of our trip and we’re hoping for an invitation to graduation 2010.